Renewable and Distributed Energy Technologies

Renewable and distributed sources: usefulness and advantages; Estimates of wind energy potential; wind maps; Aerodynamic and mechanical aspects of wind machine design; conversion to electrical energy; Aspects of location of wind farms

Wind speed and energy; speed and power relations; power extraction from wind; tip speed ratio (TSR) and characteristics; Functional structure of wind energy conversion systems; pitch and speed control; Fixed speed and variable speed wind turbine control; power optimization; Electrical generators: self-excited and doubly-fed induction generators - operation and control

PV technological developments; estimation of solar irradiance; components of solar energy systems; Modelling of a PV cell; current-voltage and power-voltage characteristics; effects of temperature and irradiance; sun tracking; MPPT techniques: perturb and observe, hill climbing and incremental conductance methods; Effects of partial shading; solar park design; solar pond; types of PV systems

Hydel: small, mini and medium; plant layouts; water power estimates; use of hydrographs; Hydraulic turbine characteristics and part load performance; Design of wheels, draft tubes and penstocks; Other sources: tidal, geothermal and gas-based generation

Requirements of hybrid/combined use of different renewable and distributed sources; need for energy storage; Control of frequency and voltage of distributed generation in stand-alone and grid-connected modes; Use of energy storage and power electronics interfaces for connection to grid and loads; Design and optimization of the size of renewable sources and their storage